EICC 2023: Shevchenko joins Sarana on the top with one round to go
Heading into the last round of the European Individual Chess Championship 2023, GM Alexey Sarana (FIDE, 2668) and GM Kirill Shevchenko (ROU, 2668) share the lead sitting on 8 points each. GM Kirill Shevchenko (ROU, 2668) outplayed GM Benjamin Gledura (HUN, 2637) in the penultimate round to catch up with the leader. Shevchenko had a slightly better position from the opening that transformed into the pawn-up edge in the endgame. Gledura still had chances for escape but after a questionable 30…Rb2?! the Romanian GM gradually converted his advantage into a full point. Playing on the first board, GM Alexey Sarana (FIDE, 2668) held a draw with black pieces against GM Andrey Esipenko (FIDE, 2680). Esipenko was searching for a victory and had a clear advantage most of the time, but Sarana found a very nice sequence making the opponent force a draw by perpetual check and secured the joined lead coming into the final round. Twelve players are trailing the leading duo by a half-point: GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2658), GM Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2659), IM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (GRE, 2520), GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE, 2651), GM Jaime Santos Latasa (ESP, 2655), GM Andrey Esipenko (FIDE, 2680), GM Valentin Dragnev (AUT, 2561) (pictured below), GM Yuriy Kuzubov (UKR, 2616), GM David Paravyan (FIDE, 2584), GM Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2610), GM David Anton Guijarro (ESP, 2685), and GM Igor Janik (POL, 2527). The final round starts tomorrow at 15:00 CEST, featuring the direct encounter for the gold medal on the first board between GM Alexey Sarana and GM Kirill Shevchenko. Round 11 top 10 pairings: 1. Sarana, Alexey (8) – Shevchenko, Kirill (8)2. Kuzubov, Yuriy (7½) – Anton, Guijarro David (7½)3. Paravyan, David (7½) – Esipenko, Andrey (7½)4. Janik, Igor (7½) – Bacrot, Etienne (7½)5. Korobov, Anton (7½) – Dardha, Daniel (7½)6. Santos Latasa Jaime (7½) – Dragnev Valentin (7½)7. Kourkoulos-Arditis, Stamatis (7½) – Nguyen, Thai Dai Van (7½)8. Predke, Alexandr (7) – Pechac, Jergus (7)9. Yuffa, Daniil (7) – Gelfand, Boris (7)10. Brkic, Ante (7) – Grandelius, Nils (7) The closing ceremony of the event will be held on March 13 at 22:00 CEST. Live broadcast with commentaries by IM Miodrag Perunovic can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel. Text and photos: official website Official website: eicc2023.com/
Sarana defeats Korobov to grab the sole lead in EICC 2023
GM Alexey Sarana (FIDE, 2668) defeated GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2658) in Round 9 to take the sole lead in the European Individual Chess Championship 2023 with only two rounds to go. Alexey Sarana got the upper hand in a dynamic position, which later transposed into a pawn-up endgame for the 26-year-old grandmaster. Korobov fought hard, but Sarana demonstrated a perfect technique and scored a victory to get closer to the EICC-2023 throne. It was a draw in the clash of generations which was played on the second board between 23-year-old GM Benjamin Gledura (HUN, 2637) (pictured below) and 54-year-old Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2674). Gledura had a slightly better position out of the opening and eventually emerged up a pawn. However, it wasn’t enough to earn a full point, as Gelfand’s active pieces helped him to keep the position in balance. Sitting on 7 points (each), GMs Anton Korobov (UKR, 2658), Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2659), Benjamin Gledura (HUN, 2637), Kirill Shevchenko (ROU, 2668), Andrey Esipenko (FIDE, 2680), Valentin Dragnev (AUT, 2561) and David Paravyan (FIDE, 2584) are tied for the second place. The 10th penultimate round starts tomorrow at 15:00 CEST with the clash between the two youngsters on the top board. Andrey Esipenko will have the white pieces against the new leader Alexey Sarana. Round 10 top 10 pairings: 1. Esipenko, Andrey (7) – Sarana, Alexey (7½)2. Shevchenko, Kirill (7) – Gledura, Benjamin (7)3. Bacrot, Etienne (7) – Paravyan, David (7)4. Dragnev, Valentin (7) – Korobov, Anton (7)5. Anton, Guijarro David (6½) – Kadric, Denis (6½)6. Ivic, Velimir (6½) – Predke, Alexandr (6½)7. Gelfand, Boris (6½) – Lupulescu, Constantin (6½)8. Grandelius, Nils (6½) – Azarov, Sergei (6½)9. Iskandarov, Misratdin (6½) – Santos Latasa, Jaime (6½)10. Nguyen Thai Dai Van (6½) – Guliyev, Namig (6½) Live broadcast with commentaries by IM Miodrag Perunovic can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel. Text and photos: official website Official website: eicc2023.com/
EICC 2023, Round 8: Korobov stays in front
GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2687) remains in the sole lead sitting on 7/8 with only three rounds left to be played at the European Individual Chess Championship 2023. In Round 8, Korobov made a quick 8-move draw with GM Benjamin Gledura (HUN, 2637). Having black pieces against the leader, Gledura accepted the draw offer and kept his position in second place with a score of 6.5 points. GM Alexey Sarana (FIDE, 2668) (pictured above) defeated GM Yuriy Kuzubov (UKR, 2668) to join Gledura in a tie for second place. Alexey got a clearly better position from the very beginning and, step by step, built up his advantage. The positional dominance eventually transposed into the material edge, and Alexey Sarana scored a critical victory to secure his position in the race for the medals. As many as 27 players are sharing fourth place with 6/8 each, including GM Alexandr Predke (SRB, 2684) (pictured below), GM Andrey Esipenko (FIDE, 2680), GM Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2674), GM Kirill Shevchenko (ROU, 2668), GM Ivan Cheparinov (BUL, 2661), GM Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2659), and others. The 9th round starts today at 15:00 CEST, with GM Alexey Sarana taking on GM Anton Korobov with the white pieces. Round 9 top 10 pairings: Results & Complete pairings for the 9th round can be found here. 1. Sarana, Alexey (6½) – Korobov, Anton (7)2. Gledura, Benjamin (6½) – Gelfand, Boris (6)3. Predke, Alexandr (6) – Dardha, Daniel (6)4. Esipenko, Andrey (6) – Bjerre, Jonas Buhl (6)5. Bernadskiy, Vitaliy (6) – Shevchenko, Kirill (6)6. Paravyan, David (6) – Cheparinov, Ivan (6)7. Bacrot, Etienne (6) – Brkic, Ante (6)8. Svane, Frederik (6) – Grandelius, Nils (6)9. Ponomariov, Ruslan (6) – Dragnev, Valentin (6)10. Guliyev, Namig (6) – Santos Latasa, Jaime (6) Live broadcast with commentaries by IM Miodrag Perunovic can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel. Text and photos: official website Official website: eicc2023.com/
EICC 2023, R07: Korobov retakes the lead
Ukrainian GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2658) once again took the sole lead in the European Individual Chess Championship 2023 after defeating IM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (GRE, 2520) in Round 7. The Greek IM sacrificed a piece in a very sharp and complicated game, but Korobov found a way to defend and consolidate the position. Kourkoulos-Arditis had his chances for a draw, but he did not manage to find the only moves that would have kept him in the game. With today’s victory, Anton Korobov scored 6.5/7 and is now a half-point ahead of GM Benjamin Gledura (HUN, 2637), the only player from the large group of players with 5 points to score the victory. Gledura is now in clear second place with 6 points after winning a drawish endgame GM Giga Quparadze (GEO, 2483). Playing with Black, Quparadze solved all the opening problems but completely mishandled the endgame. Gledura used his passed b-pawn to reach the won queen ending and scored a full point. Heading into Round 8, 13 players tie for the third place scoring 5.5 points each: IM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (GRE, 2520), GM Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR, 2655), GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE, 2651), GM Frederik Svane (GER, 2577), GM Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2659), GM Jaime Santos Latasa (ESP, 2655), GM Alexey Sarana (FIDE, 2668), GM Alexandr Predke (SRB, 2684), GM Nijat Abasov (AZE, 2625), GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (UKR, 2611), GM Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2674), GM Yuriy Kuzubov (UKR, 2616) and GM Kirill Shevchenko (ROU, 2668). Round 8 starts tomorrow at 15:00 CEST and the top 10 pairings are: 1. Korobov, Anton (6½) – Gledura, Benjamin (6)2. Santos Latasa, Jaime (5½) – Predke, Alexandr (5½)3. Gelfand, Boris (5½) – Nguyen Thai Dai Van (5½)4. Sarana, Alexey (5½) – Kuzubov, Yuriy (5½)5. Shevchenko, Kirill (5½) – Abasov, Nijat (5½)6. Kourkoulos-Arditis, Stamatis (5½) – Bacrot, Etienne (5½)7. Ponomariov, Ruslan (5½) – Svane, Frederik (5½)8. Sargissian, Gabriel (5) – Bernadskiy, Vitaliy (5½)9. Kadric, Denis (5) – Martirosyan,Haik (5)10. Lagarde, Maxime (5) – Navara, David (5) Live broadcast of the games can be followed with commentaries by IM Miodrag Perunovic on the ECU YouTube channel. Text and photos: official website Official website: eicc2023.com/
International Women’s Day Chess festival held in Tirana, Albania
International Chess Federation, Balkan Chess Federation and Albanian Chess Federation, in collaboration with Albanian Center for Openness and Dialogue, jointly held the International Women’s Day Chess festival, a series of chess events to celebrate the International Women’s Day and reinforce the commitment to women’s equality. The large-scale celebration took place from March 9-10, 2023 and included the “Balkan Chess Star” tournament, the women’s workshop “Chess is a safe space for women”, organized with contribution from ECU Women Commission, and a simul with female chess influencers. The workshop “Chess is a safe space for women” featured Dana Reizniece-Ozola, WGM, FIDE Deputy Chair of Management Board; Antoaneta Stefanova, GM, women’s world champion; Anastasia Sorokina, WIM, Chair of FIDE Commission for Women in Chess, international arbiter; Agnieszka Milewska, Director of the Women’s Chess in England; Majlinda Pilinci, General Secretary of Albanian Chess federation, member of FIDE PDC Commission, international organizer. “No matter what position I was occupying in my career, chess was always a source of my inspiration. Starting from elementary things like thinking a few moves ahead, seeing the whole chessboard, not just one square, respecting your opponent, remembering you’re not the only person in a game, appreciating the value of time, and making decisions. So in real life, whatever profession you will choose, even this very training and a simul that we are playing with you will help,” said Dana Reizniece-Ozola to the participants of the event.” She was supported by Antoaneta Stefanova, who stressed the importance of decision-making for every person: “Each one of us should find a way to be useful for his country and society, and chess gives us a lot of preparation for life. I think that decision-making is one of the advantages of chess players. From a very early age, we get used to thinking, making decisions and then facing the consequences. Even though we were defeated so many times, we are not afraid to start a new game and make new hard decisions. Choose wisely. As we, chess players, say, it is always good to have a plan, even a poor one, than not to have a plan at all.” The “Balkan Chess Star” blitz tournament brought together eight girls born in 2007 and younger, representing all Balkan countries, who first competed in 2 round-robin qualification events on March 9. The Final was held today, March 10, between the winners of each event. Ailin Ndreko from Albania and Jona Recica from Kosovo qualified for the final from their groups. Ailin Ndreko bested her opponent and won the tournament. After the winner was determined, all the participants attended a masterclass by Antoaneta Stefanova, where they studied the Trompowsky Attack. Being in Albania, the FIDE delegation visited the National Olympic Committee and met its president Mr Fidel Ylli. The parties discussed mutual support in chess development and future cooperation. While the first part of the International Women’s Day Chess festival was held offline, the event continues with online training. The arbiters seminar by IA Panagiotis Nikolopoulos (GRE), IA Mihail Prevenios (GRE), and IA Tshepiso Lopang (BOT) is held from March 10-12. It will award norms and titles of FIDE Arbiter and is free for national female arbiters nominated by their federations. The Online FIDE Trainers’ Seminar for female trainers organized by the FIDE TRG Commission in partnership with the FIDE WOM Commission, scheduled for March 17-19, will finalize the celebration of International Women’s Day. Photo: Anna Volkova
FIDE – ISF World School Teams Online Chess Cup postponed
Following requests from participants and enabling more teams to register and take part in the Cup, the Organizing Committee of the FIDE – ISF World School Teams Online Chess Cup decided to make some changes to the event regulations. Given the above, the competition is postponed. The new dates for Qualification events will be the 29th and 30th of April, and the Finals to take place on the 6th and 7th of May. The changes below have been made to the regulations: Ages 8 (2015), 9 (2014) and 10 (2013) were included in the U15 category. Players could play in the upper group teams. So U15 category players can play both in U15 and U18 teams, but schools must choose one of that categories, as a player could not play in both categories. The updated version of the regulations will be published soon. About FIDE – ISF World School Teams Online Chess Cup FIDE – ISF World School Teams Online Chess Cup is organized by FIDE, ISF (the International School Sport Federation) and World Chess and provides a platform for schools from FIDE and ISF member countries, as well as students from around the world, to connect with chess enthusiasts from across the globe and showcase their skills in an official international chess tournament. The tournament features two age categories, U15 and U18. Each school team must consist of 1 to 7 full-time students from the same school. The winners and medalists of the event will be rewarded with exclusive team training sessions with world-famous grandmasters, chessboards signed by the GMs, subscriptions for the World Chess Masterclasses program, and FIDE Online Arena premium membership packages. The tournament will be held online on the FIDE Online Arena, with the final stage broadcast live on World Chess and FIDE’s YouTube channels. The new registration deadline is April 22, 2023. Please visit isf.fide.com to learn more about the event and to register your team.
EICC 2023: Korobov and Kourkoulos-Arditis lead after six rounds
Six rounds have already been played at the European Individual Chess Championship 2023 in Vrnjacka Banja Serbia, with GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2659) and IM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (GRE, 2520) sharing the top position after scoring 5.5 points each. A group of eight players follow the leaders sitting on 5/6: GMs Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE, 2651), Vitaliy Bernadsnkiy (UKR, 2611), Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR, 2655), Giga Quparadze (GEO, 2483), Frederik Svane (GER, 2577), Alexey Sarana (FIDE, 2688), Nijat Abasov (AZE, 2625) and Benjamin Gledura (HUN, 2637). With five rounds to go it is still wide open. The ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili opened Round 6, wishing a happy International Women’s Day to all female participants, arbiters, and volunteers of the Championship. He also wished a happy birthday and many returns to our Chief Arbiter Tomasz Delega. GM Anton Korobov made a draw with the black pieces against Czech GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen. The opponents split a point after just 20 moves of play, though GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen had a slightly better position according to engines. Korobov joined the live studio after the game, explaining that his opponent offered him a draw in a position where he felt extremely uncomfortable. IM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (pictured below) defeated the two-time Azerbaijani Champion GM Eltaj Safarli (AZE, 2608) to catch up with Korobov. It was an exciting game in which Safarli had everything under control up to some point. However, the Azerbaijani GM first missed the strongest continuation 22.Nxf6 and two moves later, made a mistake with 24.Rf6?! allowing Kourkoulos-Arditis to grab the initiative. There was no comeback for Eltaj Safarli, who was forced to resign in the 33rd move. The 7th round starts today at 15:00 CEST and will see the leaders’ clash. The top 10 pairings: 1. Korobov, Anton (5½) – Kourkoulos-Arditis, Stamatis (5½)2. Abasov, Nijat (5) – Sarana, Alexey (5)3. Bernadskiy, Vitaliy (5) – Ponomariov, Ruslan (5)4. Svane, Frederik (5) – Nguyen Thai Dai Van (5)5. Gledura, Benjamin (5) – Quparadze, Giga (5)6. Kadric, Denis (4½) – Sargissian, Gabriel (4½)7. Navara, David (4½) – Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios (4½)8. Pechac, Jergus (4½) – Moussard, Jules (4½)9. Predke, Alexandr (4½) – Iskandarov, Misratdin (4½)10. Esipenko, Andrey (4½) – Brkic, Ante (4½) Text and photos: official website Official website: eicc2023.com/
FIDE and Chess.com Bring Chess to the Olympic Esports Series
Blitz chess will be included in the upcoming inaugural Olympic Esports Series 2023, with Chess.com playing host to a unique qualifying event. The world’s leading online chess platform has been selected by FIDE, recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the game’s governing body, to run a mass participation pre-event tournament—and you are invited to enter. The qualifiers have three phases which start with a 3+2 blitz tournament open to any non-titled player on Chess.com starting on April 1. The winners will then progress to the Trials stage when the titled players enter the competition. The top 16 from that phase then go through to a Preliminaries event between May 1 and 5. Eight will be eliminated, and the final eight will progress into a live in-person tournament, the first of its kind, held during the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore from June 22 to 25. Chess.com CEO Erik Allebest said: “As the top platform for chess, we are excited to host these online qualifiers. We believe chess belongs on the biggest stages and are proud to see it recognised as an esport alongside so many other great disciplines.” FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich said: “After almost one year of work behind the scenes, we are very excited to see this event coming to fruition. We believe that the Olympic Esports Series marks a new stage in the cooperation between FIDE and the International Olympic Committee since our institution was recognised as an international sports federation by the IOC in 1999. “I would like to highlight the perfect alignment between FIDE values and the strategic roadmap outlined in the Olympic Agenda 2020+5. This project, and the ones that we expect to follow, has the potential to bring enormous benefits to players and national federations.” The Olympic Esports Series is a global virtual and simulated sports competition created by the IOC in collaboration with International Federations (IFs) and game publishers. Chess will feature for the first time alongside archery, baseball, taekwondo, cycling, motor sport, dance, sailing and tennis. It will be the highlight of the Olympic Esports Week, a four-day festival at Singapore’s Suntec Centre designed to showcase the best in virtual sports. The Olympic Esports Series will culminate in live, in-person finals for the first time, with players having the opportunity to progress to the Olympic Esports Finals 2023. Players will compete in front of fans for the prestigious title of the first Olympic Esports Series Chess Winner. The finals action will be streamed globally across Olympics.com and Olympic social channels. The Olympic Esports Series builds on the successes of the 2021 precursor event. More than 250,000 participants from across 100 countries took part two years ago. FIDE was recognised by the IOC as an International Sports Federation in 1999. It is now one of the largest international federations, encompassing 199 countries as affiliate members. Chess.com is the world’s biggest chess platform. It has more than 120 million registered users and hosts around 12 million games daily. About the Olympic Esports Series ©2023 International Olympic Committee/IOC – All rights reserved. The “Olympic Esports Series” is a property of the IOC and may not be copied, republished, stored in a retrieval system or otherwise reproduced or transmitted, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means whatsoever, without the prior written consent of the IOC. Unauthorized copying, adaptation, rental, lending, distribution, extraction, re-sale, arcade use, charging for use, broadcast, public performance and internet, cable or any telecommunications transmission, access or use of this product or any trademark or copyright work that forms part of this product are prohibited.
FIDE Trainers’ Online Seminar announced
Organized by the Asian Chess Federation in cooperation with the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess under the supervision of the FIDE Trainer’s Commission, the FIDE Trainers’ Online Seminar will stretch from the 17th to 19th of March and cover various topics. SEMINAR PROGRAM & SCHEDULE: Day & Time (CET) Topic Lecturer March 17 09:00 – 11:00 1. Analyzing Own Games. Hou Yifan 12:00 – 14:00 2. Tactics and Strategy Training. Artur Jussupow 15:00 – 17:00 3. Study of Classical Games Artur Jussupow March 18 09:00 – 11:00 4. Training of Calculations. Vladimir Malakhov 12:00 – 14:00 5. Introductions, FIDE, TRG and the Trainers System. 6. Age & Gender Differences Ilaha Kadimova 15:00 – 17:00 7. Move Search Algorithm Iossif Dorfman March 19 09:00 – 11:00 8. Opening Repertoire / Preparation Alexey Dreev 12:00 – 14:00 9. Endgame Training Bishop Endings Iossif Dorfman 15:00 – 17:00 Written Exam TRG REGISTRATION & INFORMATION Organizer and contacts FIDE Trainers’ Commission trainers@fide.com Registration deadline: March 13, 2023 Venue: Zoom Seminar participation fee: €200 Lecturers: GM Artur Jussupow GM Hou Yifan GM Iossif DorfmanGM Vladimir Malakhov GM Alexey Dreev WGM Ilaha Kadimova Seminar language: English Rules & regulations: trainers.fide.com/trg-online-seminars/
FIDE delegation visits Sudan
On the occasion of the Arab Chess Championship held in Khartoum, a FIDE delegation headed by its President Arkady Dvorkovich paid a visit to Sudan. These trips share a common goal: opening doors to state officials and securing their support for our National Chess Federations. This task has always been a priority in the presidency of Arkady Dvorkovich. The FIDE delegation was received by H.E. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (pictured above), Vice-president of the Republic of Sudan. This was followed by a meeting with the Secretary General of the Sudan Olympic Committee, Prof. Mahmoud Elsir Mohamed Taha (pictured below). The focus of these meetings was to discuss practical agreements that could ensure institutional support towards various chess activities. “I had promised to visit the country, and now I am pleased to see that our meetings will bring tangible results. Governmental officials have already asked the Sudan federation to provide their development plans for further support,” said the FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich. The next meetings on the agenda were the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Education. Both expressed their interest in hosting Continental and Arab Youth events in the country, as well as introducing chess in education, recognising its value in developing the cognitive and social skills of chess in children. Hazar Abdel-Rasoul, Minister of Youth and Sports (pictured above), attended both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Arab Championships. In her speech, after welcoming the FIDE delegation to her country, she emphasised the role of the chess championship in strengthening the ties between the ministry, national chess federation and international organisations. “Sports is not only about competition, it is about building relationships. This championship has made us a close family,” said the minister. The FIDE delegation was also invited by the Ministry of Sports to visit the construction of the “Sports City”. It was decided that this major sports infrastructure project, currently under development, will include a brand new Chess Academy, which aims at getting recognition as FIDE certified academy once it starts operating. The Sudan Olympic Committee expressed its appreciation towards FIDE as a great partner promoting the Olympic values and highlighted the recent news of chess being included as one of the nine online sports included in the IOC Olympic Esports Series 2023. Omar Abdalla Omer Deab, President of the Sudanese Chess Federation, made a very positive balance of the visit: “The Arab Chess Championship brought almost 70 players from 19 countries to Sudan. And with President’s Dvorkovich visit, the event and the whole chess community of Sudan got full attention, allowing us to present our achievements and further plans to officials and society.” FIDE Vice President Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla acknowledged the organisational level of the Arab Chess Championship: “The Sudanese Chess Federation has demonstrated a professional attitude and certainly deserves an opportunity to organise further chess competitions of the Arab Chess Federation.” Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Deputy Chair of Management Board, Tshepiso Lopang, President of the African Chess Confederation (ACC), and Sami Khader, FIDE Chair of Trainers Commission, explored the country’s chess initiatives giving lectures to women players and school children, as well as informing organisers, arbiters and trainers on capacity building opportunities provided by FIDE and the ACC. “We shall work together to open up opportunities for the future life champions with the help of chess, but it is already worth mentioning two immediate results: ‘New Horizon Chess Academy’ will apply for FIDE endorsement, and an agreement has been achieved that Sudan will be represented at the 3rd Online Chess Championship for Prisoners,” noted Dana Reizniece-Ozola. The Arab Chess Championship in Khartoum came to an end yesterday with a convincing victory of Al Khatib Ahmad from Jordan in the Open section, and Lina Nassr from Algeria in the Women’s section. You can read a dedicated report at this link.